Will Greenwood identifies 10 things England need to sort out for the Rugby
World Cup.

Find depth in the final quarter of the field I have seen pancakes with more dimensions than England when they get close to the line. Patience is everything. Allow the play to unfold. If the ball is very quick and the defence are retreating then fine, go further to the gain line as a group and take the space. Just make sure that as the ball slows down and the defensive wall reorganises you don’t creep flat.

Too often Flood was forced to look back inside as slow ball and a flat attacking line on the outside gave him no options. Players have to know that once depth goes out of the line it becomes easier to close down no matter how big the overlap or how outnumbered the opposition are.

Creeping forward together as a unit before the ball arrives will hurt you. Schoolboy lesson? Always make sure you can see the number on the back of the jersey on the man inside of you. And again, be patient.

Stop crowding your passersDon’t get in the personal space of men whose duty it is to look for runners and space. Stay out of their postcode. It forces decisions upon them, when these men should have time and space on the ball and be allowed to put the ball where they want. Offer yourself as an option, talk to the ball carrier - Jason Leonard was exceptional at this - but don’t get in his line of vision and don’t force them to make passes.

This is caused by starting lines of running too early, not keeping distances width and depth, and rushing. Better a decoy runner stays out of it than gets in the way.

A prime example was when, after Tindall made a lovely break from a line out, the ball was recycled and Steve Thompson was lurking on the far side ready to walk in. From relatively quick ball Flood had to use Hape as his link man to get the ball across from left to right but then Louis Deacon sits right on top of Flood, overcrowding the passing zone and forces the pass to Hape to be flatter than it needed to be, giving Shane Williams a chance to sprint out and close the move down. Deacon stays out of Flood’s way, Flood can pull it back, and Hape can draw the man for the try.

Improve awareness of the men around you Blindfold the great players and they can tell you where the rest of the team are. Some are better than others, granted, but everyone can be helped with communication and a better understanding of what the team is trying to do.

As England’s forwards pushed and pushed for the penalty try that never came, the ball finally popped out the back of the last scrum. England then missed a glaring chance. Wales had two men on the short side worried about a repeat of Haskell’s try at Twickenham. This gave England a numerical advantage on the left hand side. The key is to hold the first three defenders and give the flyers an easy 2 on 1 on the outside.

England ran one of my old-school favourite moves, an easy, time buying classic. Flood has the ball, Hape drifts wide and Tindall comes up the middle to hold the second defender. The ball goes across Tindall, but he has done enough to hold Roberts. Hape is then opposite Henson, a perfect 3rd man vs 3rd man situation. More importantly what it means is England have two left on the outside to Wales’ one.

Trouble is, Hape did not look left even the once. There was no danger of him passing it to Foden because he was unaware of the option. For Wales, George North was saved by the lack of pass. England need to understand what moves they are trying to do, what they achieve if they work well and what it will create. As it was, a brilliant Henson tackle on Hape meant the ball was turned over.

Increase numbers at key breakdownsThere is nothing wrong with the power game from lineouts. It gives off the top ball, gets players over the gain line quickly. The simple principle, even if people want to see complicated moves, is to win the physical battle and make the opposition tackle your big men. It is a sound principle.

What is unforgivable, however, is to win great line out ball, send the big men over the top and then have slow ball or even worse get turned over or penalised. England know where the ball is going, the opposition don’t. How can they get there first?

Too often England went down this route and had the ball stolen by an inspired Warburton. Freedom is wonderful on a rugby field but it is rubbish when it comes to who hits that first ruck. Players must be held responsible for these platform-setting rucks. It may be the closest back, it may be the forward at the back of the line out. Who it is doesn’t matter, there just has to be someone.

Learn to adapt at key momentsWhen you go behind in a match, and it will happen to every good team at some point, you have to realize that there will always be a chance to steal the initiative back. Make sure you don’t allow it to drift by in front of your very face. Do not be restricted by a call that has been made, calls can be changed.

Late on, Charlie Hodgson was at 10, a man who has the best hands in the country, and England had a scrum on the left side of the field. England again put the power on in the scrum, the right hand side moves up, taking Wales’s back row defence out of equation. Hook spots the danger and moves close to the scrum, leaving Wales with 3 wide defenders. We have 6 if you count Cueto lurking behind Charlie. Game on!

The ball comes quickly, and I know I always talk about depth in the attacking zone but sometimes you need to change your play. As you get further away from the try line defences are more likely to back off and try to buy time. This is when you attack flat, this is when you go for the jugular and eat up that space.

As the ball moves to Charlie he aggressively goes at the line. Trouble is, the England back line is sat on it’s heels so deep that instead of being set up for a wide flat pass and the cracking attacking option, Charlie finds himself isolated and puts in a cross-kick that goes straight out with no one chasing! The last chance to salvage the game was gone.

Over the next few weeks, England need to make role play the key, they need to practise these situations, they have to vary defensive numbers, field positions, make players accountable for decisions. They need to start thinking on their feet, not with them.

Provide immediate support from attacking moves or set piece plays England seem to be crying out for a Chris Ashton. But it shouldn’t be his responsibility alone, and gambling on success must be the prerogative of at least one England player. What is the point of creating a hole, sending someone through and then letting him run on alone as the defenders close in.

Once the break is made the quicker you can then shift the point of attack again the more confusion you create for the opposition and the more chance you have of scoring. The lineout gave England a lot of opportunities. Early in the game Wales had waited for Banahan when he got ball off the top and then smashed him. Later in the game, they waited for him again. Except this time, the ball went early to Tindall with Banahan floating round the back.

This meant Tindall got a break but hardly any support. Why wasn’t Foden or even a backrow forward gambling on a move they have been practicing on all week? Someone has to take a punt. Foden eventually got there and very nearly scored coming from miles away. But understanding where you are going and what you are trying to do must give one player free rein to gamble.

Eliminate bad decoysToo often England’s decoys might as well be mannequins. It is not easy for forwards, they scrum hard all day and haven’t the pace to be an effective decoy. So don’t even bother with them, they are a waste of time and it puts big men in front of the ball and out of the game.

Being bad at something is not the end of the world. Forcing someone who is bad at something to do it is very poor thinking. For backs, a decoy line doesn’t mean you are being ignored or your teammates don’t like you. You are a means to an end. A good decoy run is as valuable as a try-scoring pass.

Never go through the motions. Demand more from your defence in training. Demand to know if your lines and pace are convincing. Squad men don’t pay lip service. If someone does a poor decoy, smash the ball carrier and tell the ball carrier why. That will set the cat amongst the pigeons.

Get nastier at the breakdown Wales had too much of a free hand in the second half. England’s enforcers must enforce. People trying to steal your ball or slow your ball down must be treated with little respect. They are taking the game away from you.

Study the likely opponents’ techniques and work out the best way to remove problems. Neil Back was an expert, and I am probably the least qualified to comment on this point. But put it this way, I never wanted to be in a ruck when Grahame Rowntree or Martin Johnson were playing against me.

Versatility can be a curse I don’t like a squad made up of men who could play somewhere in an emergency. New Zealand is a long way away, but players can still come and join the party. The balance of a team is affected by trying to work out the best possible solution using players who can play across a variety of positions.

I don’t think England can go to New Zealand with Cueto and Ashton as the only two out-and-out wingers. Sharples or Monye must come into the equation. Banahan is caught between positions and Delon Armitage is not an international winger.

The back row must always carry a flyer and England missed a link-man on Saturday. Fourie is a very good player in the darkness, but England need a 7 who can get it in and away, in and away, all day. Take specialists, not versatility. Its rugby not a Swiss Army penknife.

Banish self-doubt and never ever beat yourself upWarm-up games are warm-up games. I still believe this England team, given the group and knockout stage route to the final, can still make it all the way. England are too powerful for anyone to really want to take them on in a knock out game. There is no need for the team to develop a siege mentality either.

Take your medicine, smile, suck it all in and wait. You had your fingers burned. Wales won a game. But it wasn’t THE game. You do not have to win a Rugby World Cup scoring 35 tries. Even if one would be nice every now and then.